By Hana Medina

FAMILIES HAVE ALWAYS come in all shapes,
sizes, colors and backgrounds. But a unique festival in Los Angeles is helping to shi; the cultural view of what it means to have a diverse
family. While history and cultural stereotypes
have o;en cast the experience of being biracial
or multiracial in a contentious light, Mixed
Remixed, an annual arts festival, is repositioning it as a source of celebration.

Best-selling author Heidi Durrow ( The
Girl Who Fell from the Sky; Algonquin Books,
2011; not available at Costco) founded the festival in 2013, a;er previously organizing the
Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival. Durrow,
who refers to herself as Afro-Viking on account
of her African-American and Danish ethnici-ties, spoke with ;e Connection from her Los
Angeles home.

“We get to talk about multiracial and

Organization: Mixed Remixed

Founder: Heidi Durrow (above)

Founded: 2013

Headquarters: Los Angeles, California

Website:mixedremixed.org

Email:info@mixedremixed.org

Comments about Costco: “Costco has
become a go-to place for me when I have
family or friends visiting from overseas.

It’s so big, and the clientele so diverse,
it strikes my guests as quintessentially
American.”—Heidi Durrow

multicultural mixed identity in, not necessar-ily a positive light, but we get to talk about itin a moment of positivity,” she says. “BecauseI think, too o;en, when we’re talking aboutrace and racial identity and experience, itcomes out of these moments of con;ict.”While there are many academic studies onthe mixed experience, Durrow, a Costco mem-ber, says it was important for her to focus thefestival on the arts. “We connect through sto-ries. It’s the writer Barbara Kingsolver who says,‘It’s when we can connect with a theoreticalstranger through story, that’s when wehave empathy.’ When we can see our-selves in someone who’s di;erent, thenthat’s when we fully understand. ;roughthe arts, I think we just have an easierentryway [to talk about race],” she says.

“;e festival is also for people who
are not mixed race and for people who
are not in mixed families,” she notes.

“And isn’t that the most importantthing? We don’t want to have this insu-lar conversation with [only multiracialpeople]; we want to have this conversa-tion in the mainstream.”Durrow explains that the festival pur-posely includes lighthearted elements, suchas comedic workshops. “People didn’t [usedto] think there was anything funny aboutbeing mixed. ;ey wouldn’t talk about beingmixed. ;ere was complete silence aroundthese issues. What I like to say [is], ‘It’s likewe’re trying to take the tragic out of mulatto,one joke at a time.’ ”Last year’s festival brought in nearly 700attendees from around the country, andDurrow says there’s something very unifyingabout celebrating with others who identify as“in between.” “A lot of people say, ‘[Attending]felt like coming home.’ ‘It felt like the home Inever had.’“People feel a lot of relief when they come,because, especially for people who are ethni-cally ambiguous looking, it’s hard to quantifyto someone how much of a tax there is onhow to answer the question, ‘What are you?’ It’snot meant to be hostile, but there’s a tax onhaving to explain your identity every singleday,” she explains. “[At the festival] no one’slooking at your family, going, ‘Wait a min-ute—how do these people ;t together?’ ”Mixed Remixed is always held aroundJune 12—Loving Day—the anniversary of thelandmark 1967 Supreme Court ruling inLoving v. Virginia that struck down remaininganti-miscegenation laws.